Package and closure therefor



1 Nov. 6, 1928.

. 1,690,852 M. B. BEHRMAN PACKAGE AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed April 6, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 e0 l l7 2. 55 I; 25 9 45 5Q l A 1. "r f; 2 1: 4| E I6 42A: J 46 ATTORNEY INVENTOR M [5 (3411 BY m. A wa Nov.6,1928. 1,690,852 M. B. BEHRMAN PACKAGE AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed April 6, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 so F H- M T a-7- INVENTOR BY A ATTORNEYL/M Patented Nov. 6, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

MARCUS B. BEHRMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE LOX SEAL, CORPOiRA TION, OF BROOKLYN, NEV/ YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PACKAGE AND CLOSURE THEREFOR.

Application filed April 6, 1525. Serial No. 21,080.

. My present invention relates enerally to improvements in packaging and involves the method and means for securing superposed portions of a package or container against separation an Merchants who give credit or permit the return of merchandise find that' they serve losses by the surreptitious removal of merchandise from the container. Furthermore it is a common practice for a prospective customer to order up merchandise and after making use of or otherwise handling the contents to then return the merchandise for credit or exchange, and my invention has particular utility to prevent such practices occurring without detection. Its utility, however, extends generally to the field of packages and containers and of maintaining the package or containers and of maintaining the package or container or the container closures in predetermined condition or position, and certain phases of my inven tion may serve even a broader field of utility.

One of the objects of my invention is the provision of an arrangement whereby a container closure can be associated with the container against accidental removal therefrom and then aflixed thereto so that the closure member cannot be removed without detecby the merchant upon the prospective customer where return is requested.

Containers of the type in which the box elements are in the form of sheets, which are folded reform the box parts are generally provided with means for maintaining the box parts in their shaped or folded condition. Another object of myv inventionis the provision of an arrangement for maintaining a box part in its shaped or foldedcondition and more particularly, the provision and arrangement for such purpose of fastoning elements which not only maintain s eh box part in such condition, but also serve to hold the box parts together so as to maintain such has part in such condition, but also associated together and where the box parts i are such in the form of a sheet to be folded to form the box part, to maintain suchpart in its folded condition but'also permit of their being sealed together so as to prevent any separation of the parts without detection.

"For the attainment of these objects and such further objects as may hereinafter appear or be pointed out, I have illustrated embodiments of .my invention in the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. 1 shows in plan View the blank from which the box body member is formed;

Fig. 2 is a similar View of the blank from which the top cover member is formed;

Fig. 3 shows these blanks folded and ready for assembly;

Fig. 4 showsin perspective the box parts assembled and partly sealed inits closed con dition;

Fig. 5 shows in perspective the type of fastener element employed in the embodiment of the invention of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 shows in perspective modified form of fastener. I

* Figs. 6 and 7 are views similar to that of Figs. 1 and 2 showing a modifiedv form of blank for the body member and for the' cover member;

Fig. '8 is a perspective view of the body member formed by folding the blank ofFig. (Sand then securing it in its golded condition;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view one of the fastener elements employed in the embodiment of Fig. 8; a

F i.g. '10 showsa manner of associating this fastener with the box body member; Q Fig. 11 shows in perspective a corner of the assembly of the box body member and the box corner member andlsealed; I

l2is a perspective view of a modified form of holding member; and. i

Fig. 13 is a perspective View similar to that of Figure 11 showing the use of the modified form of fastener of Fig/12.

I have illustrated my invention as employed in connection with a box made of two separable parts made of a material such as card board or fibre board and one of which serves as a cover member and in which the parts are each of the knock down type, that is of the type in which they are in the form of blanks appropriately scored or otherwise treated so as to enable them to be readily folded or shaped so as to provide the side wall construction. and in Fig. 1 of the drawings, I show the blanks from which one part namely the body of the container is to beformed and upon viewing this fig;- ure, it will be observed that this blank is preferably scored or otherwise weakened along the pairs of parallel lines 11 12, 13 and 1 1 to define the container body 15 and the side walls 16, 17, 1.8 and 19 thereof. The blank of Fig. 1 is further scored angularly along the lines 20, 21, and 23 starting from the point of crossing; of two of the score lines 11, 1 2 '13 and 1st and runi'iing to the adjacent corner of the blank thus detining the angular corner portions at each corner, all for purposes that will shortly be understood.

To form the box body member of 3 from the blank of Fig. 1, this blank is folded along the lines 11 12, 13 and 1 1 so as to provide the upstanding walls 16, 1.7 18 and 19 positioned substantially at right angles to the box body bottom member 15, the surplus material at the corners being taken up by folds along the lines 20, 21, 22 and 23 so as to form the triangular portions 2st and 25 at each corner which are illustrated in the drawings as superposed upon each other and upon the opposite longitudinally extending; side walls 17 and 19 although as will be understood, they could equally well have been superposed upon the inside of the opposite transverse walls or of any of the walls 16 and 18 or upon the outside of any of the walls.

In order to maintain this box body memher in the folded condition of Fig. 3, employ a member of such a character that it is adapted to pass over the top edges of the superposed parts and present portions which engage the opposite faces thereof, the whole being so constructed and arranged as to cause portions of the fastening member to engage these opposite faces and thus serve as a clamp to clamp the superposed parts in position.

In Fig. 5 is shown the specific form of fastener clamp which is illustrated as employed in the embodiment of Fig. 3 and this fastener presents the spanning arms and 31 running generally in the same direction and spaced a sutlicient distance to permit of the clamp being passed over the upper edge and 26 of the overlapping portions 19, 24; and at one corner of the bOX and so arranged to cause them to frictionally engage the opposite extreme faces of the superposed per-- tions so to hold this fastener in position thereon. At the lower end. of the spanner member 81, there is provided the eye 32 which is bent so as to be presented at substantial right angles to the general direction of the spanner members 30 and 31 and gen erally horizontally when the fasteners are in position on the box as shown in Fig.

These fasteners of Fig. are preferably formed from a length of wire which may be relatively stiff and yields only upon the application of considerable force, which wire is bent intermediate its ends to form the loop or eyelet 32, the ends of the loop or eyelet being then bent upwardly at right an glee to form the pair of legs or spanner members 31 and then bent at 33 to present the free ends 3030 in the form of spanner legs winning}; substantially in the same direction as the pair 31 and spaced a substantial distance therefrom so as to permit of the fastener being sprung over the superposed parts 19 241- and 25 so as to cause these parts to he received and held between the pairs bf legs 30 and 31.

'l he cover member blank of Fig. 2 is preferably scored along the pairs of parallel ines 10, 11, 42 and a3 so as to define the side walls 1. 1, 4:55 4:6 and a? of the cover member and the cover blank is further provided at the ends of the score lines and 412 with the cuts 48, 19, and 51 inwardly from the edge so as to sever the material at these points for the distance indicated at the drawings, thus forming the partly severed portions 52, and 5% one at each corner. The blank of Fig. 2 is further provided with openings positioned one in each partly severed corner 51 of the blanlr and on the opposite sides of the out 4-9, openings 56 are pointed preferably elongated and positioned as shown in the drawings for purposes that wil be understood.

The cover member of Fig. 3 is formed from the blank 52 by bending this blank along the fold lines all), ll, 12 and 13 so as to provide the side walls 414:, $5 46 and all and the partly severed portions 51 at each corner are bent at right angles to the wa ls llaud 45 so as to cause the-in to owrlap the adjacent walls 15 and ill", the positions of the adjacent openings 55 and 56 being such as to cause them to register as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing.

The cover so folded is then positioned on top of the body box member assembled as shown in Fig. 3 the position of the fastener elements being such to permit the eye portions 32 of each to pass through the registen ing openings 55 and 56 adjacent each corner of the box cover member. In this way, the

Iil

fastener member will serve not only to'hold the body box member folded as shown in the lower half' of Fig. 3, but will also hold the cover member assembled therewith and also secure the cover member to the body box member against accidental removal as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing.

Where it is found that because of the character and size of the box or of the material contained therein, it is advisable to have the cover member associated with the boxmember at additional points,I may provide the box member with the spanner members at additional points, as for instance, intermediate corners as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing and in such case, I provide the cover member blank with the appropriate additional slots or openings 58 as shown in the figures of the drawing to cooperate with the additional spanner members.

The assembly thus far described presents eyes 32 on opposite side walls of the box and i I seal the box against removal of the cover without detection by passing through the corresponding eyes- 32 on opposite walls of the cover, the flexible shackle or tie 70, each of which may be provided with the anchoring tips 71 formed so that the diameter or thickness thereof is'disproportionately less than the length, with the flexible tie 0r shackle 69 attached to the tips so that the efiect of theffastening' point is intermediate the ends of the tip 70 one end 70' of the tip being preferably formed so as to serve as a guiding or piercing portion and the other end 70 forming a handle portion. The tips 70 are then each passed through the opening 71 into the cavity in the seal '1' 2. This opening 71 is wide enough to permit of the passage therethrough of the tip 70 when moved longitudinally thereof, but. isnarrower than the width of the tip so that when the tips '70 are inserted in the seal 72 as described, any pull upon the shackle will automatically position the tips 70 transversely of the seal 72 so as to therefrom. v

It will thus be seenthat the cover ofthe box is not only held in positionon the cons tainer by; the member but is locked and sealed in such position by the tie member 69 and the seal72 so that the cover cannotbe removed without detection, because such removal will require the destruction ofeither part of the container orof thetie member.

The tie member 69 is made no longer than is absolutely necessary to permit of its being passed all the way around the box with the tips 7 0 secured within the seal 72 so that the tie 69 serves not onlythe securing and sealing purposes already described, but also serves to brace the box against undue bulging or distortion. 7 p

In Fig. 5 of thedrawing, I show a moditied type of spanner member made of astrip prevent the removal of thetips of material bent so as to provide the spaced.

walls, 75 and 76 positioned substantially in parallelism and so spaced and of such material that when forced over the overlapping portions at the corner of the box, it will serve not only to hold the overlapping portions in position, but also to anchor thespanner member thereto. Projecting downwardly from the lower end of the leg or wall 76 is the eye-77 positioned so. as to be presented in a horizontal position. This spanner member will operate substantially as set forth in connection with the spanner member of Fig. 5. It will be understood that where desired, the eye'77 may be turned at right angles from its position in said figure so as to present the 'eye in a vertical position.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I show the blanks from which the box body member and the box cover'member are to be formed respectively v and the blank of Fig. 7 being in all respects similar to that'of the blanks of Fig. 2 except that the adjacent openings in Fig. 7 are shownat right angles to the corresponding openings in Fig. 2 and forms when folded a cover member similar to the cover members shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawing except as to the position of the openings or slots and no detailed description 'ofthe blank to form the cover member is therefore necessary.

The box body blank of Fig. 6 is illustrated as being in all respects like the box body blank of Fig. 1 except that it is provided with the slot 80 or 81 in each of the tri- I angular corner portions 24 and 25 and with slots 83 in each ofthe walls 17 and 19 and adjacent the slots 80 in the corner portions '25, these slots are preferably although not necessarily elongated and are positioned as shown in the drawings for purposes that will be understood as this embodiment is described. This box body may be folded as described in connection with. the forma-' tion of the box body of the embodiment of Fig. 3 except that the three adjacent openings 80, 81 and 83 are so positioned as to register to provide through the overlapping portions in its-folded positiom'I preferably employ the fastener member of Fig. 9 which may be in the form of a stiff piece of wire having the vertical wall 90 with one free end bent into parallelism therewith to form the depending hooked member 91 and the opposite ends of the wire member being bent to form the angled and preferably horizontal portion 92 having the other free end bent over at 93 so as to form the closed loop with the opening 94. 1

This wire is preferably so dimensioned and constructed that the space between the legs 90 and 91 will be sufiicient to permit this part of' the fastener to-pass over and span the top edge of the overlapping por tions at each corner of the box with the legs operation of positioning t 90 and 91 in frictional engagement with the extreme opposite faces of the overlapp ng portions and serving as a sprng clamp and with the eye portion 9a passed through the slot S l so as to present the eye 95 progecting beyond the outer walls 17 and 19 of the hon. Attachment of this fastener in position is materially assisted by the fact that the material of which the box; part is construeted is of material such as fibre board which is readily flexible and in Fig. 10, I show the h V hese fasteners of Fig. 9 so as to cause them to assume their position as shown in Fig. l otthe drawing. T he hooked upper end of the fastener is first hooked over the top ec ges of the superposed portion as shown in Fi s 10 and the wall of? .til the eye95 is in the box then buckled u substantial registry with the slot 84L upon which an outward pressure upon thi eye portion will cause this eye portion to snap through the opening and the wall. por ion to resume its normal position, this action being materially assisted by the tact that the height of the eye portion at its outer portion is materially greater than the heightof this eye portion at the point where it joins on to the leg 90. L

It will be observed that this form of the invention differs primarily from that de scribed in connection with l? 3 in that in the first place, the fastening member does not depend upon friction or a clamping action for its association with the bodybox member and furthermore, presents the eye 95 in a substantially vertical position so that the shackle 69 illustrated as used in connection with Fig. 4 of the drawing will pass in this embodiment horizontally about the box as shown in Fig. 11 ot the drawing and this shackle may be provided with tips 100 to be associated with a seal 102 just as in Fig. l ot the drawing.

Due to the fact that the eye is presented in a vertical position when fastened to the body box member, the openings through the cover member have been changed from their position of Fig. 2 as to cause the opening termed through the superposed portions of the box cov 'member to be also presented in a vertical position as shown in Fig. ll of the drawing. I

in Fig. l2 oil the drawing, I show a modified form of the fastener of Fig. 9 inwhich the eye member is bent so as to be presented in a horizontal position and with this type of fastener, the slots through both the cover member blank and the body box. member blank will each have to be turned at right angles so as to cause the slots through the superposed port-ions at the corners on both the box body member and the be); cover member to be presented horizontally and in Fig. i l I show a corner of the box cover so secured.

comprising a resilient U-shaped element removably clampablc over the edges of said portions to retain said plies in superposition and having a head adapted to engage the closure member, said U-shaped element serving as the sole means for retaining said plies in superposition.

2. In a box construction, a box member formed by tolding an integral fiat blank along predetermined lines, whereby multiply portions are produced, a complementary closure member adapted to telescope the box member and provided with a set of openings therethrough, and means for retaining the box member in set-up condition. and

also to lock said closure member thereto,

said means comprising an element remov ably clampable over the edges of said portions to retain said plies in superposition and having a head adapted to extend through said openings in the closure member. V

3. In a box construction, a box member formed by folding an integral flat blank along predetermined lines, whereby multiply portions are produced, a complementary closure member adapted to telescope the box member and provided with a set of openings therethrough, and means for re taining the box member in set-up condition and also to lock said closure member thereto, said means comprising a resilient clip element removably applicable over the edges of said portions to retain said plies in super position and having an eyeletted head adapted to extend through said openings in the closure member; and a tie element threaded through said eyeletted heads.

4;. In a box construction, a box member formed by folding an integral fiat blank along predetermined lines, whereby multiply portions are produced, a, complementary closure member similarly formed and adapted to telescope the box member, said closuremember having openings through its multi-ply portions, and means for retaining the box member in set-up condition and also to lock said closure member inset-up condition thereto, said means, comprising an element removably clampable over the edges of said box member portions to retain the plies in superposition and having a head adapted to extend through said openings in the closure member.

5. In a box construction, a box member formed by folding an integral flat blank. along predetermined lines, whereby vmult1-- ply portions are produced, a complementary I closure member adapted to telescope the box member, and means for retaining the box member in set-up condition and also to lock formed by folding an integral fiat blank along predetermined lines, whereby multiply portions are produced, a complementary closure member adapted to telescope the box member, and means for retaining the box member in set-up condition and also to lock' said closure member thereto, said means comprising a clip element removably clampable over the edges. of said portions to retain said plies in superposition and having a head which extends through said plies and into engagement With the closure member; said clip element comprising a wire bent into. angular portions of which one is said head and the other is hook-shaped.

7. In a box construction, a box member and a complementary closure member, said members being mutually telescopable, and means for holding the two in associated relation, said means comprising a clip element removably clampable over the edge of one of the members and having a portion Which extends through both members. 7

8. In a box constructions, a box member and a complementary closure member, said members being mutally telescopable, and means for holding the two in associated relation, said means comprising a clip element removably clampable over the edge of one of the members and having a portion which extends through both members, said last named portion being eyeletted, and a tie element threaded through said eyelet.

9. For use with a built-up box member made by folding an integral blank along predetermined lines to provide side Walls which include overlapping portions, and a closure member similarly constructed, a fastening element having. a portionarranged for removable clamping engagement over the edge of said overlapping portions to maintain the box member set up, said fastening element having a second portlon arranged to pass through the Walls of one of said members to serve as an'engaging portion for the closure member.

10. For use with complementary box and and closure members which are mutally telescopablc; a fastening device for holding the two in associated relation,said device comprising a clip element having a portion so constructed and arranged as to be removably clampable over the edge of one of said members, and having a portion which is adapted to extend through both members, said last named portion being eyeletted to accommo- (late a tie element therethrough.

11. In a box construction, a box member formed by. folding an integral flat blank along predetermined lines, whereby multiply portions are produced, and means removably applicable over the edge of said portions for retaining the box member in set-up condition, said means comprising an integral wire element bent to provide a hook shaped end engageable over said edge and I an enlarged looped opposite end extending in a d1rection which projects the same through said portions when said hooked end is applied to said ed e.

In Witness whereof, I have signed this 

